False Recall, Mass Refunds, and Brand Damage — Amazon’s Error Is Costing Sellers Thousands
Hi Amazon Team, Moderators, and Fellow Sellers,
We are Photographic Solutions, the brand owner and manufacturer of PEC*PADs — professional-grade, non-abrasive cleaning wipes used worldwide for cleaning camera sensors, lenses, negatives, and other delicate photographic surfaces.
We are posting here publicly in hopes that someone at Amazon will finally recognize the severity of the ongoing issue affecting our brand and multiple authorized sellers.
🔴 What Happened
On March 7, 2025, Amazon mistakenly flagged PEC*PADs as "Solar Eclipse Glasses." As you can imagine, this is completely incorrect. PEC*PADs are not eyewear, not intended for solar viewing, and pose no safety risk whatsoever.
We immediately submitted an appeal, and on that same day, Amazon confirmed the classification was wrong, the violation was removed, and the listing was reinstated.
However, despite the appeal being accepted and resolved:
⚠️ What Is Still Happening
- Amazon has automatically refunded thousands of FBA orders for this ASIN (B0001M6K24) across Amazon UK and EU.
- To date, our sellers have lost over £30,000, and we believe that figure could be double once the full impact is known.
- Amazon also sent thousands of “product recall” emails to customers falsely stating the item was recalled for being unsafe for viewing a solar eclipse — which is completely false and has severely damaged our brand reputation and our sellers’ businesses.
- Seller Support has been unresponsive, closing cases, or sending copy-paste replies that don’t address the issue.
- One of our UK sellers is now facing possible bankruptcy due to over £20,000 in deductions, despite having a spotless account health record.
✅ Key Facts
- PEC*PADs are NOT solar viewing products — they’re cleaning wipes.
- There is NO product recall.
- We are the brand owner and manufacturer, and no safety concern has ever been issued by us or any authority.
- The problem stems from a mistaken internal classification by Amazon.
🙏 What We’re Asking
We are urging Amazon to:
- Immediately stop refunding orders for this ASIN.
- Remove the false “safety recall” messaging sent to customers.
- Reimburse sellers who have been impacted by this error.
- Assign this case to someone in Escalations or Executive Support who can properly address brand-level misclassifications like this one.
We are happy to provide all supporting documentation, including the appeal approval, product images, and case IDs.
Please help us resolve this serious issue that has gone far beyond a simple listing error. Multiple businesses are being harmed, and a brand with decades of trusted reputation is at risk due to an automated mistake.
46 replies
Seller_uPYdTETzFSdIa
This is an absolute disgrace and is a perfect example of how Amazon’s automated systems and useless seller support are destroying hardworking businesses and the reputation of many longstanding brand owners.
My business has lost thousands of pounds so far due to this error and I’m now on the verge of bankruptcy after 20+ years in business.
What else am I supposed to do? I’ve tried my hardest to get some sort of sense out of seller support. I’ve tried phone , chats, emails. Nobody is interested in solving the problem. They just want to copy and paste irrelevant responses so that the next support agent can deal with it.
Please can any of the forum mods at least take a look at this?
@Ezra_Amazon@Julia_Amazon@Julia_Amzn
Seller_5jfBYxoSK5qyH
We are the french seller of this product used by photographers and 3D printer for cleaning their lenses and print heads and have in vain tried to get this issue fixed since March 19th without any real answers.
We have triedo ur hardest to get some sort of sense out of seller support. I’ve tried phone , chats, emails. Nobody is interested in solving the problem. They just want to copy and paste irrelevant responses so that the next support agent can deal with it.
And they steal our money by charging our credit card especially stating if there is not enough on the account they will continue to charge us illegaly stealing our money.
Please can any of the forum mods at least take a look at this?
Julia_Amzn
Hello @Seller_7tljpAGnkofk4,
Thank you for addressing this. Can you share case ID you have submitted with the Seller Support?
@Seller_uPYdTETzFSdIa@Seller_5jfBYxoSK5qyH, thank you for your call outs. Did you reach out to Seller Support?
Kind regards, Julia.
Julia_Amzn
Dear Sellers,
I have an update: I can confirm that our teams are aware of this issue and are working to resolve it. Sellers who are affected will receive communication within 5 business days.
Please keep me informed once you receive communication.
Best, Julia.
Julia_Amzn
Hello Sellers, could you please share the status of your refund process?
@Seller_7tljpAGnkofk4, thank you for sharing updates. I have removed screenshots which include personal data.
Thank you!
Julia_Amzn
Hello Sellers, I want to confirm that the reimbursement process has not yet been completed. This means that those of you who are still awaiting reimbursement will receive it within 2 business days.
Best regards, Julia.
Seller_uPYdTETzFSdIa
Hi @Julia_Amzn
Please can we have an urgent update on this? Nothing has happened for a week now.
I am still owed £3054.21 from Amazon and @Seller_5jfBYxoSK5qyHhave not received any reimbursements at all.
There have been no updates on any of the support cases.
Seller_5jfBYxoSK5qyH
Hi @Julia_Amzn
Please update us urgently.
Seller_5jfBYxoSK5qyH
It is now 5 more days than the 2 days you mentioned.
PLEASE HELP
Thank you
Julia_Amzn
Hello @Seller_uPYdTETzFSdIa and @Seller_5jfBYxoSK5qyH, I'm working on it. I will share updates as soon as I have new information.
Seller_5jfBYxoSK5qyH
Hello @Julia_Amzn
It seems that we have not got through with our information.
The only information is that they took the money from our credit card and did not reifund us anything?
Why can we not see the messages on Case 10942340802 anymore?
We were told.
"Thank you for your patience regarding the incorrect refund issue. We want to inform you that on April 3rd and 4th, 2024, we have processed reimbursements for all affected orders that were incorrectly refunded. These reimbursements have been credited to your account.
Reimbursements typically appear in your account within 4-5 business days after approval."
Amazon means reimbursents to them and not to us? so we are still without a solution.
Please help
Seller_uPYdTETzFSdIa
Hi @Julia_Amzn
It's been 5 days since your last response. Do you have an update on this?
We were initially told we would be reimbursed within 2 business days. That was a fortnight ago!
Seller_5jfBYxoSK5qyH
Hi @Julia_Amzn
We are also waiting for an update.
We have been charged for all the false refunded orders, but have not received anything from Amazon.
Please try to help - Now they changed our Case ID to 11012558852, which just repeats what we have received as answers since March 19 where Amazon the made this very stupid mistake to reimburse without any notice all orders for ASIN B0001M6K24.
On March 7, 2025 Amazon confirmed the classification was wrong, the violation was removed, and the listing was reinstated.
But they made the reimbursements on our account March 19, which of course should never have been done.
So we are still expecting to get it back. 3169.44 € and SEK 1142.94
Seller_7tljpAGnkofk4
This Is Unacceptable – False Recall, Brand Damage, and Broken Promises
Dear @Julia_Amzn and any Amazon team members reviewing this thread,
We are writing again as the brand owner and manufacturer of PEC*PADs to express our growing frustration and disappointment with how this situation has been handled.
This has gone far beyond a support issue — it is now a crisis that has severely impacted our brand, our sellers, and our reputation, and it is completely unacceptable that this remains unresolved.
--------------------------
Here's the reality:
- The original violation was acknowledged by Amazon as an error (Case ID: 10900406472), and the listing was reinstated on March 7, 2025.
- Amazon continued issuing refunds anyway, even after admitting the misclassification.
- False recall emails were sent to thousands of customers, stating that PEC*PADs were unsafe for solar viewing — which is completely false and never issued by us.
- Our sellers have lost over £30,000 that we know of, and likely far more.
- Despite multiple reassurances (including your public statement promising resolution within 5 business days), most affected sellers have not been fully reimbursed, and some have received nothing at all.
- Seller support continues to close cases, give copy-paste answers, or simply go silent.
--------------------------
Enough is enough.
We’ve been in business for over 43 years — 11 years before Amazon even existed — and we’ve built a reputation in the photographic industry that has now been publicly damaged due to Amazon’s error. Our products are made in the USA, trusted globally, and have never had a safety issue.
We are beyond disappointed with the lack of accountability and follow-through on Amazon’s part. The affected sellers are not just account IDs — they are real businesses, real people, and long-time partners who have done nothing wrong.
--------------------------
We are demanding immediate action:
- Full reimbursement to all sellers affected — without further delay.
- A formal retraction and clarification regarding the false recall sent to customers.
- Proper accountability for how this was allowed to happen in the first place — and what Amazon is doing to prevent this from happening again.
We are still open to working with Amazon to resolve this — but the promises made so far have not been kept, and the silence is no longer tolerable. We are urging Amazon to treat this matter with the seriousness it deserves.
Julia_Amzn
Hello @Seller_7tljpAGnkofk4, @Seller_uPYdTETzFSdIa, @Seller_5jfBYxoSK5qyH, I hope you are all doing well.
My colleague has sent notifications confirming the initiation of reimbursements to each of you. Would you please confirm that you have received these notifications and whether the reimbursements have appeared in your accounts?
Kind regards, Julia.
